Which?: 4G connection varies wildly across UK

Which? and OpenSignal found that Middlesbrough is the best city for 4G, accessible 83 per cent of the time

Which? and OpenSignal has found that 4G availability and download speeds vary “wildly” across the UK.

The independent consumer advise company teamed up with OpenSignal to compared 20 of the UK’s biggest cities and found that Middlesbrough is the best city for 4G access, available 83 per cent of the time in front of Sheffield (79.3 pc) and Sunderland (79 pc).

Bournemouth was found to be the worst city for 4G connectivity, accessibly 67.5 per cent of the time with Portsmouth and Southampton (69.6 pc), Cardiff (71.8 pc) rounding off the bottom three.

Download speeds were also tested with Stoke-on-Trent leading the pack averaging over 26 Mbps speeds over 4G LTE networks with Brighton and Hove and Cardiff bringing up the rear with 17.6 and 17.7 Mbps speeds respectively.

London came fourth from bottom in both tests scoring 73 per cent in the accessibility test and averaging download speeds of 20.5 Mbps.

Which? managing director of home products and services Alex Neill said: “These latest findings underline the need for Ofcom to keep the pressure on mobile operators so that every part of the country gets a decent service.

“Our mobile phone is central to how we live out lives and that is why it is frustrating when we can’t access emails or browse the internet on the go.”